Various designs for containers and handles, such as a plastic PET (polyethylene terephthalate) bottle having a handle, have been developed. However, it is technically difficult and relatively expensive to mold a handle integrally with a side portion of a bottle. Therefore, some designs provide for a separately molded handle that is then permanently attached to the side of the bottle. Some designs provide that the formed handle is embedded into the bottle body as the bottle is being formed. However, such designs are relatively expensive and require special molds for forming the bottle around the handle.
Other designs provide for a separately formed handle that is snapped into a corresponding groove in the bottle body. However, such designs are not removeable. In addition, they are relatively expensive to manufacture given they are typically formed using a relatively large amount of material.
Other designs provide for a strap which is adhesively bonded to the side of the bottle. Although such handles are cheaper to manufacture than others, there is the additional cost of the adhesive. In addition, they typically cannot support heavier bottles, such as larger PET bottles.
Therefore there is a need for a handle, and resulting container system, that is inexpensive to manufacture, durable, removable, and able to support relatively heavy containers.